Xiao Zhang's eyes lit up. He took the brown leather from Ningxia and examined it carefully. The color was even and beautiful, and it evenly shone with a faint luster in his hand. It was an excellent material whether used to make clothes or accessories.
It is completely different from the common animal furs at trading points that only care about warmth and completely ignore aesthetics, and can even be said to be crude and shoddy. Even before the buds begin to sprout, it is a rare treasure.
It's not as warm as fur, but it's definitely strong. If it were made into leather shoes or exquisite bags and given to the rich people in the shelter, they would definitely go crazy for them.
The two pieces of leather that Ningxia took out were not very large, about the size of two normal square tables.
Xiao Zhang looked at him with a smile. "It's not very cost-effective to exchange points, sister. Why don't you use these two skins to exchange for the fur you want. I will do my best to give you a discount!"
"I need two furs, two meters by two meters, and four furs, one meter and a half by one meter and eighty. I also need some smaller furs, like rabbit fur, cashmere, goose down, etc. I want to make a hat, earmuffs, and vest out of them. Can you trade them for me?"
Xiao Zhang was stunned. "Sister...you are putting it in a difficult position for me."
Ningxia knew the result, and the amount she asked for was exorbitant, but she was just testing the waters.
Xiao Zhang looked down at the fur in her hand and gritted her teeth. "Sister, I'll give you three furs, 1.5 meters by 1.8 meters. They're spliced together, so they look a little shabby, but they're just as warm. I can't get the two-meter by two-meter ones! There's enough rabbit fur for the three of you to wear for hats, gloves, and earmuffs! Pick the best ones!"
Ningxia pursed her lips, as if hesitating.
Seeing this, Xiao Zhang lowered his voice and said, "Cashmere and goose down are hard to exchange! I can give you a small batch of wool yarn. It has some defects, but it won't affect the use. You can just give me some points. Is that okay?"
Seeing Ningxia still didn't speak, Xiao Zhang was almost crying, "Sister! My dear sister! Even if you find a middleman, you can't get a better deal on this!"
Ningxia finally nodded in agreement, seemingly reluctantly. This was a much better outcome than she had expected. She had easily snatched the two skins from their original owner's house, so this exchange was like picking them up for free.
In the end, Ningxia showed no mercy and only spent a low price of fifty or sixty points to buy a large bag of wool yarn. She took away all of Xiao Zhang's employee share, and also took away two introductory crochet books and a set of crochet tools.
Both sides appear distressed and feel that they have suffered a great loss, but it is unknown what is really going on inside them.
In just one day, Maomao's luggage had returned to its peak. Nearly 300 kilograms of weight was pressing on him, and even then, there was still about 100 kilograms of unloaded luggage on the ground.
Originally, Maomao could have shared the burden, but the three siblings couldn't bear to tire Maomao out, so the remaining more than 100 kilograms of supplies were dispersed and put into the bags of Li Gang and the other three.
"Let's take the new road. We're not in a hurry anyway." Li Gang led the way, holding Maomao's hand.
Ningxia nodded in agreement. "Okay! We happened to be passing by Brother Lei's sentry post, so we can get together for a while. I've changed a lot of dishes."
Old Liao chuckled, "That's a good deal for those guys. Just when you were coming this way, there was a wild boar attack on someone. All the surrounding sentry posts have been alerted again, so at least the first half of the road is safe."
With the decision made, the group set out on the same route they had taken to Ningxia. The checkpoints along the way were even more frequent than before. The road construction team had also completed a significant section of the work in just a few days.
As they entered the dense forest, greenery began to appear. The thorns that had withered in the scorching sun had regrown, clinging to the towering trees.
Lao Liao picked up a large chopstick of stir-fried shredded pork, put it in his mouth and let the spicy flavor invade his taste buds. "I haven't eaten food made in Ningxia for a long time, and this is it!" He said while giving a thumbs up.
Ningxia had long been accustomed to Lao Liao's noisy personality, so she just lowered her head and smiled without responding.
"Oh, right! The forest area where you lived in Ningxia is now called the Forest District 1 in Morning City."
"Area 1? Does that mean there are other forest areas?"
"Of course! While your plot of land is nice, it won't be enough when more residents come in. District Two isn't open yet, but it will be soon. We're already looking for a suitable place to live in District Three. We expect to have a result by the end of the year."
"Squad Leader, is the city settlement full?"
Li Gang swallowed a large mouthful of steamed bun and shook his head. "After the Lieyang Moon, the entire Mo Ning urban settlement can accommodate a maximum of 30,000 people. A lot of people have been arriving since the Lieyang Moon, so it should be almost full."
"How many people live in Morning City?"
"Add about two million troops to the garrison."
"so much?"
Old Liao raised his eyebrows. "A lot? This land had a population of nearly seven million before the first sprouts, not including the garrison!"
Thinking of the reasons for the declining population, Ningxia pursed her lips.
"Speaking of which, the family you're registered with is a bit lonely. You'd better be careful with the children."
Ningxia was so shocked that she almost jumped up. "What? Someone is going to the Linxia area?"
Li Gang turned to look at Xiao Jie, "You didn't tell your sister Xia?"
Xiao Jie smiled embarrassedly, not afraid of Li Gang's eyes that were as sharp as copper bells, "I forgot."
Li Gang raised his hand and pretended to hit you, "I'll settle the score with you later."
"Well, there's a new family registered in your Linxia District. It's a family of three. They're quite wealthy. They're on the other side of the river from your area. If you say they're close, you have to go across the river. If you say they're far, they're just across the river."
When Ningxia heard that there was a new neighbor, he didn't know how to react.
"Don't worry, Skynet is back up here, and the cost of committing a crime is too high. And everyone has families to support, so nothing will happen."
Old Liao also took up the topic, "That's right, neighbors, if you get along well, you should visit more often, if you don't, you should just close the door and live your own life."
Ningxia came back to her senses, patted the somewhat anxious Lin Yi soothingly, and asked curiously: "Squad leader, didn't we ask you to escort us to the forest area?"
"They refused!" Before Li Gang could even begin, Lao Liao interrupted, "The couple each rode a horse, asked for a map, and headed to the checkpoints on their own."
"According to the staff who reported it, they're very defensive and have quite a bit of wealth. Forget about moving into the shelter community, they'll definitely be staying in the trading post residential area. They probably chose that area for the sparse population. But don't worry, no one's coming back anytime soon."
"Why do you say that?"
"Area Two will be opening soon. It's not far from Morning Shelter One and closer to the trading point than your place. The roads are connected to this area, and the residential area is larger than here. Who would come here?"
Ningxia nodded in relief. She really didn't look forward to having neighbors. Living on her own was fine. Although it was a bit lonely, it saved her from a lot of unnecessary interactions.
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